The Last Day
by TVDRecap
Summary: Conflict over how to save Elena pits Stefan against Damon, until one brother uses a wooden stake to end the battle. (RECAP)
1. Chapter 1

the Vampire

Diaries

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This is a Vampire Diaries recap of the episode The Last day, I hope you all enjoy it, It was just something me and a few people put together for fun. I plan on finishing off the episode so there will be more chapters to come! Please tell me what you think this is my first story, tell me what you liked and didn't like thanks!

* * *

The Last Day

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 2/7/14

Conflict over how to save Elena pits

Stefan against Damon, until one

brother uses a wooden stake to end

the battle.

Chapter 1

**S**unlight dappled through the pristine windows in rough-hewn beams into the oldest Salvatore's room as Damon laid motionless on his bed. His icy blue eyes were fixated on the ceiling as his train of thought abruptly stopped to invade an incoming conversation happening in the living room. He narrowed his eyes acutely as he heard below, Elijah, Stefan, and Elena talking among one another, probably about a plan.

_ "Tonight is a full moon, we should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse."_

Damon heard Elijah say in his ever so polite voice. He stubbornly decided he had heard enough, and wanted to make himself officially apart of the conversation that Stefan had so kindly left him out of so he hastily got up from his bed to make that thought a reality.

* * *

In the expansive living room of the Salvatore boarding house sat Stefan, on a brown leather armchair. He was slumped forward, his elbows gently propped upon his spread apart knees, as he listened attentively to what Elijah had to say. Elena, the beautiful Petrova doppelgänger, sat next to him on a leather sofa, engulfed in the conversation as much as he was.

"Elena said that the sun and the moon curse is _fake_?" Stefan said, looking from Elena to Elijah. "That it's actually just a curse placed on Klaus?" he continued, his voice lilting.

Stefan wanted to better understand what Elena was getting herself into and exactly how dangerous this whole ordeal was before agreeing.

"Klaus is a vampire born of werewolf bloodline, the curse has kept his werewolf aspect from manifesting, but if he breaks it. . . he'll be a true _hybrid_." Elijah said as he stood before the two, rolling his wrist as he spoke. Stefan turned to look at Elena with a brooding expression, as he watched her absently nod to the news.

The information given worried Stefan, he knew nobody would be safe if Klaus was able to complete the ritual. He could tell from the look on Elena's face she was worried as well, he was aware they both shared the same compassionate feelings towards protecting their loved ones and he didn't underestimate her determination on doing so.

* * *

Damon entered through the archway of the living room, he had just so happened to be eavesdropping on the entire conversation and was fully up too par.

"Then why are we letting him break the curse?" Damon expressed with irascibility.

He could clearly see there was thick tension from Stefan upon his arrival.

"We kill him today," he went on, flickering his gaze to his younger brother. "With Bonnie!" He stated receiving an instantly surprised stare from Stefan.

"Damon. . ." Stefan warned him in attempts to shush him when a concerned Elena interrupted, boldly retorting Damon's idea.

"No. Bonnie can't use that much power without _dying_." She proclaimed in her friends defense, shaking her head vigorously.

"I'll write her a great eulogy." Damon facetiously responded.

"It's not an option Damon." Elena riposted, tight lipped as she received Damon's angry grimace as he shook his head full of disappointment, ready to argue with her further if need be.

He knew Bonnie was a great candidate for the job, she was clearly powerful, and expendable whereas Elena was anything but. Judgy little Bon Bon could succeed or die, it was a win win either way because he could keep Elena in the clear, she would be unharmed. Damon's younger brother must have seen enough of their idle bickering, deciding to butt in before things got completely out of hand, him being Saint Stefan and all.

"Alright, so how do we break this curse?" Stefan said enthusiastically trying to change the subject.

"Well the ritual itself is relatively straight forward. The _ingredients_, so to speak, you already know." Elijah answered in his oh so perfect accent, while passing Damon.

With that being said, he watched as things instantly began to piece together for his brother Stefan as he fully understood what the original had meant as 'Ingredients' as if it weren't already obvious.

"The _Moonstone_. . ."Stefan uttered even toned.

* * *

Hearing him speak the word aloud, instantly triggered a memory for Elijah of his brother Klaus. He pictured him vividly in his mind with the moonstone in hand, a sly smile dancing across his lips, he tried to submerge the image with no luck as he began to explain.

_Presently in Alaric's Apartment. . ._

_One of Klaus' witches, Greta, held the moonstone in her mocha colored hand admiring it's milky white beauty._

"A witch, will. . . channel the power of the full moon,"

_Klaus walked up behind Greta snatching the stone from her hands with a devilish grin._

"To release the spell that's bound to the stone,"

_Klaus began to walk away, with an upset Katherine watching from the corner of the room seated in a chair with a deep frown._

_Present time at the Salvatore home . . ._

"After that, Klaus being both werewolf and vampire will sacrifice one of each." Elijah told them.

He watched Elena furrow her brows, her mouth forming an 'O' shape in slight confusion.

"And, where do I fit in to it?" She faintly chimed in.

"The final part of the ritual," Elijah said, walking over to a bookshelf taking out a wooden box from one of the lower shelves.

He had, had the item inside the simple box for over a century and never got to use it due to past altercations with Katerina Petrova one of the doppelgängers he was well familiarized with from half a millennium ago. Elijah had high hopes it would come in handy this time around, though there was a possibility it would not resurrect Elena as it's powers had claimed. He had not yet informed her of Klaus' intentions of draining the life from her, but soon would as the words began to spill from his lips.

"Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelgängerー to the point of your _death_."

* * *

This had gotten Elena's full attention making her look directly at Elijah, fear set in her eyes as he told her the outcome of the ritual, with a calm, even look set across his face. She blinked rapidly, taking a deep breath trying to possibly process how she could initially end up dead. She would soon be a corpse and there was no evading it. The room was eerily silent as Elena felt strong hands wrap around her own. She barely noticed it at first but the simple gesture brought her ease. She looked to see Stefan with a distressed expression, thinking of her feelings he tried to comfort her by holding her hand.

Elena knew the dangers that Klaus brought and what could happen if things went awry, but the quick fright that the sound of death had given her somewhat dissolved when she thought of everyone she loved, everyone who held residence in her heart and what would happen if she didn't do what was needed. They would come before her needs any day, the way she saw it she lived on borrowed time. She should have died the night her parents did but fate handed her a different set of cards.

"And that's where you come in." Elena willingly broke the silence, turning her attention away from Stefan to look at Elijah with a hopeful, pursed smile.

He began to open the wooden box delicately flipping the lid, pulling out a dainty, perfectly cut crystal bottle.

"This is an elixir that I acquired someー500 years ago for Katerina, it possesses mystical properties. _Resuscitation_." He said to inform them, raising an eye brow.

Elena knitted her brows, pursing her mauve lips together, tighter.

"So. . . I'll be dead?" She asked timidly.

"And then you won't." Elijah piped in.

The brunette looked at him unsure of his idea, raising both her brows in suspicion.

"That's your plan?" Elena heard Damon say in a crude manner before she even had the chance to speak. "A magical witch potion with no expiration date?" He had turned to her as he continued.

* * *

"You wanna come back to life. . . What about John's ring?" Damon crinkled his forehead, quickly trying to explore other options.

"Those rings only work on humans. . . the doppelgänger is a supernatural occurrence odds are. . . the ring won't work." Elijah knowledgeably stated.

"Well, I'll take those odds over your elixir," Damon ridiculed the whole '_elixir idea_' looking to Elena again, worried. "What if it doesn't work, Elena?" He asked with intent care watching her briefly close her eyes trying to think of a logical answer. He observed her take a deep breath, exhaling it sharply.

"Then I guess I'll just be dead" She said looking to him.

"Whaー?" He began as he turned to look at Stefan to see if he agreed with Elena's outrageous antics.

He blankly watched as Stefan had nothing to say, his younger brother only gave him a simple soft shrug. Damon expressed a dumbfounded look to Stefan's ignorance towards Elena's life. How is it he could be so nonchalant? He was so hellbent on letting her decide, make her own choices and yada, yada but this was ridiculous, she was becoming suicidal. Damon shook his head at the silence in disapproval, shooting daggers at Elijah as he began to leave the room, having heard enough of this.

"Do we know if Klaus has everything he needs to do this? Does he have a werewolf?" Elena slightly tilted her head, as she asked in a meek and naive manner after Damon had left.

Elijah looked away providing an always accurate answer to her question.

"Klaus has been waiting to break this curse for over a thousand years. . . If he doesn't already have a werewolf, my guess is by tonight. . . he will." Elijah confirmed conclusively.

* * *

At the Lockwood house, Carol Lockwood had called Tyler's phone only to be forwarded to his voice-mail.

"Tyler? Hunny, It's your mother. I don't know where you are but I need you. I've had an accident and I'm in the hospital. Please Tyler, come home." She said while walking up the huge staircase in the foyer, coming face to face with Klaus' witch Maddox, who lipped the four last words she had just spoke along with her in a memorized manner. She gave him a sudden confused expression as she hung up her phone. It was as a look that signified she had no idea what was going on.

"Why'd I say that?" She looked to him frightfully.

"Because you've had a terrible fall. . ." He said sinister like, using his powers to throw Mrs. Lockwood over the banister like a rag-doll, hitting her arm off the railing on her way down, slamming onto the marble flooring with a sickly thud. Maddox leaned over the banister as he made sure she was out cold with an evil smile spread across his lips, part one of the plan was complete.

* * *

In the backyard of the Salvatore boarding house was Damon drinking a glass of bourbon, sulking to himself. He heard Stefan's footsteps approaching and he knew he was probably in for a lecture.

"Breakfast of champions, huh?" Stefan said jokingly, making his way around him.

"I'm surrounded by idiots, I need all the help I can get." Damon replied rudely.

"You know you're not helping."

"Elijah's an original vampire, Stefan. One we tried to kill, you're gonna believe this guy?" Damon hissed, widening his eyes, trying to convince Stefan of the obvious dangers.

"What do you want me to do, Damon? Elena made her decision, she's choosing to trust Elijah. I'm gonna put my faith in her." Stefan said wholeheartedly.

He always put his trust in Elena, he wanted for her what he never got with Katherine; a choice, but since when did it go as far to letting her sign her own death wish, Damon wondered.

"Why? she's gonna end up dead!" He retorted thrusting his glass forward at Stefan.

"'Cause she put her faith in me. She chose to trust me in spite of what I am, if I'm gonna bet on somebody's instincts it's gonna be hers." Stefan sincerely explained, gesturing both hands to himself.

_Idiot!_ Damon inwardly cursed.

"Well then, that makes you the biggest idiot of them all." He said with disgust.

"She chose to trust you too." Stefan pointed out.

"Then maybe you shouldn't be so sure about her instincts." Damon glowered, thunderheads in his eyes, it was a look of angry frustration. It was a dangerous thing to disappoint him. He took a sip from his drink arrogantly, splashing out the rest on the ground as he went back inside, leaving Stefan out there alone.

* * *

Back in the luxurious Salvatore living room, Elena approached Elijah, running her hand over the crystal bottle that held the elixir inside. It still sat ever so neatly in its box.

"You'd think he'd understand why I'm willing to do this." She said to him, while grasping the bottle gently with her hands.

"Why are you?" He questioned.

"I'm the key to breaking the curse. Klaus is here because of me I-if I don't stop him, he's going to hurt people. It's that simple." She said after a moments pause with a hint of an upset chortle nearing the end.

"You know there's a possibility this elixir won't work. I don't wanna mislead you." He blinked being honest with her.

"I know the chance I'm taking." Elena openly admitted, her tone edgy and serious.

She was aware the elixir may not work, regardless she was willing to sacrifice herself to protect everyone, she would put them first. Like she said, Klaus was brought to Mystic Falls because of her, no one else needed to be punished, it was as simple as her being the distraction to get his guard down. Elena was then abruptly startled, tearing her gaze off Elijah when she heard a door slam. She turned her head, moving her hands away from the elixir with her brows set in deep confusion at all the noise.

_ "Get out, get out!" _She recognized the voice as her Aunt Jenna's.

_ "Jenna,__ー__"_ next she heard Alaric, _"Get out!" _followed by her Aunt's repetitive plea.

Elena, hearing enough, worriedly made her way to the front door to see exactly what was going on.

Elena and Stefan in unison rushed to the front hallway, the current scene was laid out before her: there stood her Aunt, with a crossbow in hand, pointing it directly at Alaric, for a reason Elena had yet to discover. Jenna peered at Alaric with terror evident in her green eyes.

"Jenna, put the crossbow down. . . Okay, it's me!" Alaric had his hands up as he pleaded, attempting to reason with her.

"Stay away from me!" Jenna demanded shakily.

"What's going on?" Elena asked, jutting her palm forward trying to soothe the current panic.

"It's me Elena, I swear, Okay! he let me go. Klaus let me go!" Alaric tried to convince Elena as Damon walked over from down the hall.

"Prove it." Damon lazily said upon his arrival.

"Okay, uh. . . First night you and I spent together, Jeremy walked in right when I was,ー" "Okay! it's him!" Jenna loudly overlapped Alaric, interrupting him from the brash embarrassment as her face quickly began to flush a deep red. The room grew impeccably quiet as everyone looked at the two with raised eyebrows.

"Why did he let you go?" Stefan broke the awkward silence, asking Alaric.

"He wanted me to. . . deliver a message," Alaric drew in a deep breath. "The sacrifice happens tonight." Elena felt everyone's eyes practically burning holes into her, she turned around to look at Elijah helplessly.


	2. Chapter 2

theVampire

Diaries

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I hope you enjoy Chapter 2, again if there are mistakes PLEASE let me know, I'm not too good at this. Please enjoy.

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Chapter 2

**I**n the Mystic Falls Hospital was Mrs. Lockwood in a hospital bed with an arm brace on as she laid sleeping peacefully. she fluttered open her fair eyes to spot a silhouette standing at the window, instantly getting her attention.

"Tyler!" she exclaimed joyously as her son turned around, arms crossed.

"Mom. . ." He replied after seeing she was finally awake.

Tyler went to her side to comfort her, gently kissing the top of her head.

He had left for a reason, needing to better control his werewolf side but his mothers health was more important to him. Tyler had to return to Mystic Falls to check on her because if anything were to happen and he wasn't there. . . he could never forgive himself.

"You're back!" tears brimmed her eyes in joy to see him again.

"I'm back."

* * *

At the Mystic Grill Matt lifted an empty food basket cleaning off a table, as he looked up beginning to turn he came face-to-face with Caroline

"Jeez!" he said loudly, in a surprised manner.

"Sorry," Caroline laughed out the word, looking down, "I didn't mean to scare you." she said apologetically returning her gaze to his face with a large smile, stepping closer.

"Heh, It's Okay, I justーI didn't know you were here." he stammered in a happy tone that slightly faltered toward the end.

"Yeah, I wanted to try to catch you on your breaks, so we can hang out." Caroline said sweetly, swinging side to side.

"I have lunch in an hour." Matt said drawing out the 'I'.

"Perfect, I will go run some errands and I will be right back." said Caroline as she leaned up kissing Matt as he placed a gentle hand in her blonde curled hair.

"I'll see you in a bit." Caroline pulled back with a smile.

"Okay." Matt breathed out almost inaudible as he watched Caroline leave. His smile faded as soon as she was out of site, he turned around as he started to quickly walk down the row to join Liz at a table.

"Did she suspect anything?" Liz questioned leaning forward upon Matt's arrival.

"No, but. . . I can't do this anymore. I've been with her the past few days, and I'm putting on the best show of my life but. . . either she is too, or she's still the same Caroline."

"She's not the same. She's a vampire." Liz spoke while shaking her head.

"At this point I don't even know what that means!" Matt confirmed, using his hands for emphasis.

"Look, I know this is hard to understand, but my family. . . were raised with this. They're monsters, Matt! They have no soul, no humanity." Liz continued to shake her head.

"There's nothing about her that makes me believe that."

"It's an act! I believed Damon Salvatore was my closest ally in this town, instead he's a killer. They killed your sister." the Sheriff spoke calmly with an edge to her tone as she watched Matt move back with an angry, horrified look.

What Liz had told him was true but even so, Caroline _was__n't_the vampire who did that to his sister, she seemed very much the same; bubbly, insecure, and neurotic but in somewhat of a cute way. He knew her and she was anything but a damn murderer.

"What other proof do you need?" She continued with an expectant look on her face when he didn't answer.

"I could ask you the same question, Sheriff. Why haven't you done anything? Why are you hesitating?" Matt questioned with sass, tilting his head.

"Because I need more information," Liz said with nothing more than a blink of an eye, leaving Matt speechless. "And because in spite of everything I just said, I still look at her and I. . . I see my daughter." she continued with a small smile blooming on her lips.

"Damon is the problem, not Caroline. You should focus on him."

"I shouldn't have involved you, Matt. Thank you for all of your help, but. . . I'll take it from here." Liz said standing up and walking away leaving Matt to sit there blinking his eyes continuously in shock.

* * *

Stefan began questioning Alaric in the Salvatore living room, along with Jenna, Elena and Elijah also present.

"So you don't remember, anything that happened?" Stefan said with mock suspicion, slowly pacing around the room.

It wasn't that Alaric wasn't a trustworthy man, Stefan was just curious why Klaus would be so willing to release him.

"No, It's like I blacked out and woke up three days later. . . . Katherine was there." Alaric answered.

"She's under compulsion. Damon snuck her some vervain, but she can't leave until Klaus tells her she can." Stefan explained bleakly, his arms neatly crossed over his chest.

"Where is Damon?" Elena spoke up with a dipping frown. Clearly the mention of his brothers name had her asking of his whereabouts.

"I. . . saw him go upstairs." Jenna looked to her niece.

Elena gave an irritated sigh as she got up from the chair, immediately heading upstairs.

"So. . . what else did I do?" Alaric worriedly asked holding the 'So' a little longer than normal, after seeing Elena was gone. He got an estranged look from Jenna, that made the worry lines on his face deepen.

Stefan didn't trust Damon alone with Elena, he worried his older brother would try something stupid and selfish because that's what Damon does. Damon cared for Elena even if he wouldn't fully admit it and the nervous tension of waiting downstairs while he was up there with_ her_ was driving him crazy. It was like being on pins and needles the entire day, he could see in his brothers cold eyes that he had a plan forming beneath the icy blue surface and Stefan couldn't take waiting for him to do or say something horrible because Damon _would _do something horrible at one point and he didn't like thinking of the consequences of the dark thought looming in his mind.

* * *

"You disappeared." Elena said rather calmly, with a hand placed on the door frame.

He had heard her light footsteps making way to his room long before she had even spoken, making her presence known.

"I don't wanna hear anymore." Damon muttered standing at the window.

"I need you to understand why I'm doing this." Elena exasperated walking into the room.

"Why? clearly doesn't matter what I think."

"I'll be fine, Damon. I'll drink the elixir, Bonnie will kill Klaus," Elena shrugged. "And then all of this will finally be over." She stated leaning on Damon's bedpost.

"If it works." Damon said turning to her while closing his eyes in a heavy eye roll.

"It will work."

Damon heard her heart pace quicken as he felt the flare of Elena's defensive anger behind the totally '_foolproof' _Elijah plan that she was so bent up on. Her snarky attitude being on display for him, full force.

"You think it will work. You want it to work. Why am I the only one who's convinced it won't. There has to be another way." He said more soothingly, fighting back the urge to let this conversation rear it's ugly head.

"There isn't." Elena shook her head raising her eyebrows.

"You're gonna die, Elena." he said approaching her.

"And then I'll come back to life." She said defensively, shifting her weight off the bedpost.

"That is not a risk I'm willing to take."

"But I am." she said taking both his hands in hers.

He stared at Elena's hands momentarily, before returning his gaze to her big brown eyes.

"It's my life, Damon. _M__y choice_." Elena spoke truthfully, patting his hands, her voice turning into a delicate whisper towards the end.

"I can't lose you." He admitted while staring at the stubborn brunette before him intensely.

"You won't." She had slowly looked around with a mere frown before saying to him gingerly, so sure of her own words it caused a sudden wave of silence from him.

They had stared at one another for awhile after all that was said, Damon being at a loss for words in their argument just simply gazed at Elena, her determination baffled him, leaving him stunned.

_Why?_ He just kept thinking, he couldn't understand what drove her to believe that her being dead was going to be okay and non discussable.

With the arise of the confiding silence Elena let out a sharp exhale, slowly letting go of his hands and began walking away without a glance, nor word.

As she started to leave the room Damon looked down with a deep upset grimace, internally cursing at himself when he quickly began contemplating whether or not he wanted to make a desperate decision for Elena. It was a selfish act on his part, but it was the only alternative he could think of. He could feed her his blood and it would guarantee she would come back unlike the odds of that stupid elixir crap and that _one_ valid point was surely enough for him, Damon had made up his mind.

He narrowed his eyes acting on instinct as he sped in front of Elena, stopping her from leaving, instantly getting a startled and confused look from her.

"There is another way." He said seriously, widening his eyes.

Elena hadn't answered for a minute, and when she had it came out very quietly and alarmed.

"What are youー. . . .?" Elena shook her head, looking down as she stopped mid-sentence, discombobulated.

* * *

She immediately started to take notice to the blood vessels that began twisting darkly on Damon's face; they looked like cracks in marble. His eyes were filled with bloodlust and appeared bloodshot, his white fangs coming exposed as he bit into his wrist, drawing blood from the two neat holes he had made, Elena having a terrified reaction as she shook her head ill-mannered, fearing what he was trying to do.

"Damon, NO!" She shouted as she watched him skeptically.

"Damon, no-" She tried to say again, but was stopped as he shoved his wrist over her mouth, forcing her to drink his blood, holding the back of her head in place. This was a solid way he knew Elena would come back, unlike Stefan with his optimism and full trust in Elena and her choices, he was willing to do _whatever _it took to keep her alive even if it may be against her wishes.

Elena was mortified, her shouts were muffled by his wrist, she couldn't get away. She struggled helplessly looking at him with sad, petrified eyes. Her face grew hot as her eyes welled with unshed tears as they stung, threatening to spill. She desperately wanted him to release her, she didn't want to become a vampire, the thought alone frightened her half to death. Now being faced with this, it became reality to her, she was going to die at the sacrifice and now she would come back as a vampire and not by her own choice.

* * *

"_Damon, NO!"_

"_Damon, no-"_

Stefan heard Elena's terrorized, pleaful cries cut off rigidly in horror from the living room. Something was definitely wrong. He had quickly excused himself from Alaric, Jenna and Elijah, leaving them all confused, zooming up the staircase in a life or death pace to get to Elena.

Damon's wrist was placed firmly over Elena's mouth as Stefan, in a blur came over to interfere with his brothers feeble '_idea_'. His suspicion towards Damon was correct, he had been up to no good and now he had to fix things like always, it infuriated him that Damon harvested such an incapability to think things through until the damage was already done.

Stefan ripped Damon off of Elena, sending him across the room, resulting in him smashing his back off of a small wooden dresser, placed in the corner of his room. Elena on the other hand had gracefully fallen on her hands and knees with a small huff. Stefan stood in a defensive pose: balanced on his toes, fingers flexed, ready for a brawl.

"What did you do?" Stefan asked out of breath, watching his brother stand to his feet. "Huh? what'd you do!?" He shouted, aggression behind his tone as he began to kneel down to check on Elena.

Stefan already knew what Damon had done, He had selfishly made a decision for her, a life altering decision. Stefan was in denial of the thought and wanted to hear his brother fully admit to it.

"Saved her life." He finally answered, in what Damon must have thought was a bona fide way.

Elena could be heard coughing in disgust, wiping her mouth with the side of her hand.

"You're so bent on dying, at least this way I know you'll come back." He directed what he said towards Elena, widening his blue eyes.

"As a vampire," Stefan said gruffly, looking from his brother to Elena. "She'll come back a vampire." He repeated while standing up, hunched.

"It's better than nothing!" Damon stated desperately, his face switching from a gleam of sadness to pure anger.

Stefan never understood his attempts to try to submerge his emotions, it was like he thought it was a weakness to feel, to care but him being his brother he could see right through his whole facade. It then clicked in; inside Damon's dark twisted mind this was him caring for Elena's well being, It was his warped way of trying to protect her.

"How could you of all people take that choice away from her?" Stefan snarled in a rage filled fit as he made his way closer to his brother.

Elena sat still on the wooden floor of Damon's room, holding her waist with tears sparkling in her eyes, as a "_Gah_!" angrily spilt from her bloodied mouth. Both brothers turned to look at her as she cried aloud.

"Go ahead and wish me an eternity of misery, trust me. . . you'll get over it." Damon said ironically to Elena.

With that being the last straw, Stefan grunted charging at Damon with his teeth bared, knocking him flying over another small dresser located at the far corner of his large room.

"Stefan!" Elena cried out.

Damon quickly recovered grabbing a lamp stand, rushing towards Stefan pressing it against his chest to pin him against the wall as he tried to force it back.

"Admit it, you just wish you had the balls to do it yourself!" Damon's eyes blazed as he averred insolently, fueling Stefan's anger.

Stefan then furiously pushed the stand, hitting Damon in the cheekbone with the end of it, leaving a fresh dark bruise on his ivory skin. Damon had tried to retaliate by throwing a punch at Stefan but was quickly blocked by him grabbing a hold of his fist, resulting in Stefan landing multiple punches to Damon's face, before pulling his fist back to forcefully punch him again, making him fall down to his knees. He began making his way to the fallen Damon with his fist pulled back ready to punch him a final time when his brother scrambled to grab the lamp stand that laid in front of him and in a blur he harshly plunged it _deeply_ into an enraged Stefan's stomach before he was even able to react. Stefan started to slowly descend to the ground in front of him, clutching Damon's shoulder for support as Elena ran forward pushing Damon away, grabbing Stefan's shoulder in a distressed fashion.

"Get out of here!" Elena demanded after she turned to Damon with a wrathful look on her face, as Damon stonily stared at them.

"What the hell's going on?" Alaric, out of nowhere had asked as he entered the room with Jenna following behind him.

"Get him out of here!" Elena urged in despair.

"Oh my god. . ." Jenna gasped seeing the damage.

Alaric made way to Damon, grabbing his elbow when Damon violently jerked his arm out of his grip in an instant, causing Alaric to back away with his hands up defensively. Damon ascended to his feet as Stefan painfully whimpered when Damon began to leave the room slowly, glaring directly at him, as if he could bore holes through him with his eyes.

"Uh. . . . Okay, Jenna, downstairs in the basement are some blood bags, go get them, now. **Go**!" Alaric frantically directed to a fumbling Jenna, she quickly started to leave the room in utter shock.

Elena deeply frowned holding the end of the lamp stand that was impaled in Stefan, tightly in her grip as she ripped it out from his gut with all her strength. Stefan cried out in agony as it was torn from his stomach leaving the open wound to settle in the mild air, the pain causing him to double over onto Elena for support. She carefully placed his head onto her lap as she cradled him in her arms.

"It's okay, . . . It's okay, it's okay. You're gonna be okay." She breathlessly repeated to comfort him, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"G_uh, I'm so. . . sorr_ー " Stefan hardly got out in a barely audible cry of excruciating pain as he winced.

The burning in his stomach continued, undiminished as it stung, with a gnarled pain as it made contact with the cool morning air. First it started as a dull ache from within the pit of his stomach, burning as it spread throughout every particle of his body. It was like he was on fire. Stefan was ashamed that he couldn't be strong enough for Elena, he had failed.

"Shhh, It's okay. . ." Elena whispered calmly to him placing a gentle, warm hand on his cheek, the other held his hand affectionately, the gesture bringing ease to his gaping stomach wound that caused his insides to scream out in agony.

"_I'm sorry_. . ." He forced the words out to her again.

* * *

Elijah remained in the living room, the elixir delicately being held in his hands as he examined it in it's exquisite bottle carved from refined crystal, as Damon walked by.

"It sounds like you won't be needing this anymore," Elijah remarked, indicating he had been listening to what was happening upstairs moments ago. "Feeding her vampire blood rendered it useless," He continued to babble after he was clearly being ignored, not taking a hint.

Damon stood next to the asshole, still ignoring him he decided to pour himself a drink. "Tell Elena I'll be back before nightfall, we'll proceed as planned." Elijah made his final statement before he walked away.

"We both know that elixir wouldn't have worked anyway." Damon said taking a swig of his whiskey.

"Your problem, Damon. . . you talk a good game, but you don't actually know. . . . anything." Elijah said making his way back over to Damon.

"She'll never forgive you," Elijah told him, as Damon barely turned to look at the man from over his shoulder. "And never for a vampire. . . . is a very long time." Elijah let his words linger as he turned to leave for the final time.

Damon thought about what Elijah had said, furrowing his brows sadly. He had messed up big this time, he might have just crossed that fine line of forgiveness for good. Elena had graciously forgiven him so many times when he had messed up in the past, it was in her human do gooder nature but after hearing Elijah's haunting words, his mistake had finally sunken in and he realized that he needed to fix this and make it up to her or he really would lose her _forever_.

* * *

Stefan sat beside Elena on his bed, sucking every last drop of rich crimson from a blood bag clenched in his hands tightly, to get his strength back. He tossed it aside once he had finished it's use.

"Thank you. . . Both of you." Stefan looked to Jenna and Alaric, truly meaning his words.

"Yeah, well, we'll be downstairs."Alaric said with pursed lips and his arms crossed over his chest as he left with Jenna seeing Stefan deserved a moment alone with Elena.

Alaric walked out of Stefan's Bedroom and down the hallway with Jenna by his side. He didn't know what to say to her, she had just learned about Vampires and has had to face so much in so little time, it was a lot for anyone to take in and try to absorb he couldn't even imagine what must be running through her head right now.

"I know it'sー uh, a lot to take." Alaric said to Jenna, walking down the broad stairs with her.

"Yeah. . ." Jenna briskly replied.

"I tried to protect you from all of this but I-I should have known you could handle it." He expressed to her with a faint laugh.

"Can I?" She looked down stopping dead in her tracks, turning to face him.

"Well, you just did. Jenna I know we have a lot to talk about. . ."

"I'm glad you're okay," Jenna interrupted moving closer towards him closing the gap between them. She brought her hand up to cup his cheek as their eyes locked. "I should have said that already." She laughed.

Her face was but mere inches from his as they both stared at one another in the silence. Alaric inched closer to her bringing his lips to Jenna's as they met in unison, they began to passionately kiss in a perfect, still embrace. She slowly pulled away resting her forehead to his, as they both smiled, delighted at each others company.

* * *

"How could he do that to me? Why?" Elena asked angrily looking into Stefan's green eyes, saddened.

Stefan stared at her notching his head to the side, watching her upset expression with keen eyes. He brought his hand up to the side of her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"We never talked about _this_," He held her gaze as he spoke to her in a soft voice. "What this all means."

Elena moved away from his embrace, her eyes widening in realization of what Stefan meant as her lips parted open to speak in her defense.

"It doesn't matter. . ." She whispered to him her gaze drifting off to the side.

"Of course it matters." He said as he watched as her eyes briefly fluttered closed. "Hey, it matters." Stefan repeated making her lock eyes with him again, seeing her subtle expression in full view.

"I want you to go somewhere with me." He said smiling to her as he gently caressed her long silky hair.

Stefan could see all that had happened had brought sadness and unneeded stress to her so he wanted to get her mind off it best he could, fresh air was always a good fix.

"Stefan, I can't." She replied, her voice going hoarse.

"No, no, no. It's not far, _okay? _It's just for the day. _I promise._" He nodded to her, removing his hand to share a glance with her in the silence.

Elena took a sharp breath in, looking down contemplating his proposal before she looked back up with a slight nod of her head, giving in.


End file.
